Summary:
In “The Decline of Neatness,” Norman Cousins indicates that a “sloppiness virus” has spread out all areas of our society. He takes those three points: style of dress, sloppy speaking habits, insensible to violence and brutality, and aloof attitude in human relationships as examples.
Cousins first analyzes the way we dress. He points out that the torn, slovenly jeans worn by so many people today can stand as a symbol of our generations. Today it is fashionable to look disheveled. In fact, he says that today’s sloppy dress makes people look as if they had been “stamped out by cookie cutters.” It suggests as if the mere “appearance of alienation” were our goal.
Besides, the following point that Cousins discusses is the sloppy speech. He says that people does not speak complete sentence. In a word, people break the sentence into pieces and they are not capable of using effective English language. The speech is violent and foul so that the screenwriters refused to turn in insipid scripts.
Our foul and violent speech, leads to apathetic attitudes toward all violence and brutality. Cousins claims that we seem to be losing the ability to react to suffering, that “mindless violence” is the characteristic of our generation. People are increasingly becoming desensitized to violence on television and movies.
The last point that he concerns is human relationships. He thinks that our sloppy dressing, speech, and emotions are factors that affect human relationships and give an example which is sex in the film. People are weakened on feelings and ruined out privacy. We don’t have ability to feel anything. In the final part of his article, Norman Cousins wishes maybe things will be changed by predominant people in the society and pursue “genuine creativity” instead.
Response:
I totally agree that “sloppiness virus” is affecting our society. People drift with the tide, become more inward-looking and do not care about everything around them. In a word, they take themselves in the first priority. I guess maybe inside their heart, the best description will be “I don’t care!” Here, I want to use two points: sloppy of speech and human relationships which Norman Cousins mentioned in the article to give some examples.
First, we all know that Cape No. 7 is really famous. At the first time, I wonder why this movie can become so popular. The research which I find out is that they are so many four letter words in the movie. I am really sure that it is one of reasons that make this movie so popular. Thus, it can proof that why dramatist want to write that kind of lines in the movie.
Second, many media is becoming open these days. It is really easy for us to see some sexual, violent plots and pictures in film like Lust Caution and Monga. People say that it is a work of art and we should see in a positive way. The following consequence is that people become desensitize about things. We cannot distinguish which is good or bad.
Those two examples are the first thought after I read the article. I extremely think that it can totally represent what the author is trying to tell us in the article. Our society needs to be changed.
作者已經移除這則留言。
回覆刪除After reading your summary and response, here are some suggestions that I would like to give you. On one hand, you do clearly identify the central ideas in your first paragraph and provide a topic sentence which is your advantage and also the ability I want to learn and improve. For me, it is always hard for me to combine all the ideas in one sentence after reading a long article. On the other hand, I would like to suggest you to try your best to use different words in the same meaning to take place of the words that the author uses instead of using many quotations in your article. For me, it would frequently interrupt my reading and it is not the original purpose to write a summary. Also, please avoid expressing ideas in your position and being objective while writing the summary. When we write a summary, we would just restate the author’s ideas without adding any of the individual opinion.
回覆刪除I think you conclude some good ideas in your response. You provide two examples, which would make your readers to reflect or reevaluate our society, to support what the author wants to show us in his article. However, please be careful to avoid writing Chinese-like English sentences. In conclusion, the more you revise your article, the more you will improve on your writing.